Articleshttp://www.usm.edu/news/articles/Academics
enSouthern Miss Graphic Design Students Win Big At ADDYShttp://www.usm.edu/news/article/southern-miss-graphic-design-students-win-big-addys
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<a href="/news/author/ashlea-maddox">Ashlea Maddox</a> </div>
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<p>The Mississippi Gulf Coast chapter of the American Advertising Federation recently held its annual awards competition, the 2015 ADDYS, and several University of Southern Mississippi students brought home design honors. Hosted at the Imperial Palace in Biloxi, the American Advertising Awards competition recognizes and rewards excellence in advertising.</p>
<p>Hattiesburg native, Neil Carey, won Gold and Best of Show in the category of Integrated Campaigns. A $1,000 scholarship came with the Best of Show award. Kacey Holifield of Laurel won Gold in Logo Design, Silver in Poster Design and Silver in Covers/Spreads. Hunter Sullivan of Hattiesburg received Silver for Stationary Collateral. Mobile native, Alicia Ard, won Silver for Illustration, while Michael Norris of Columbia won Silver for Collateral Material.</p>
<p>Instructors for the graphic design program include Professor DeAnna Douglas, Dr. Dori Griffin, Assistant Professor John Mark Lawler, and instructor Carolyn Norton.</p>
<p>&ldquo;These awards from a professional organization validate the quality work our students are producing, said Douglas, coordinator of the graphic design program. &ldquo;We are very proud of their accomplishments and how well this represents the Art and Design program at Southern Miss.&rdquo;</p>
<p>For more information about the Department of Art and Design and other programs in the College of Arts and Letters, visit <a href="http://www.artsandlettersnow.usm.edu">www.artsandlettersnow.usm.edu</a>.</p>
AcademicsArts and LettersHometown NewsStudentsTue, 03 Mar 2015 15:16:14 +00008029 at http://www.usm.edu/newsSouthern Miss Celebrates African American History Year-roundhttp://www.usm.edu/news/article/southern-miss-celebrates-african-american-history-year-round
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<a href="/news/author/philip-kolin">Philip Kolin</a> </div>
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<p>The College of Arts and Letters at The University of Southern Mississippi celebrates Black History not just in February, but also throughout the year&nbsp;in its faculty research, courses and internships, sponsored readings and performances and exhibits.</p>
<p>As Dean Steven R. Moser affirmed, &ldquo;The College is dedicated to exploring and learning more about the lives and contributions of African Americans in our nation&#39;s history, literature, music, art and politics.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The College&#39;s internationally distinguished journal, <em>The Southern Quarterly: A Journal of Arts and Letters in the South</em>, has a strong commitment to publishing scholarship on African American history, music, art and literature.</p>
<p>Over the last few years, the journal has published special issues on Richard Wright, 19<sup>th</sup> Century black authors, the Legacy of Emmett Till, artist Lois Mailou Jones, on African American Identities, and United States poet laureate, Natasha Trethewey. The current issue, guest edited by Dr. Sherita Johnson commemorates the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer and includes interviews, historical reflections, photo essays, a section on teaching in Fredom Schools and &ldquo;Literature of the Movement.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The College&#39;s Interdisciplinary Studies program is home to the Center for Black Studies, directed by Johnson, whose mission is to promote research and provide educational opportunities relating to the history&nbsp;and culture of African Americans and the Black Diaspora. Students who minor in Black Studies take courses in a variety of disciplines (Political Science, History,&nbsp;English, Mass Communication, etc.) as well as complete an internship at a black institution or business or complete a service-learning project.</p>
<p>Dr. Cheryl D. Jenkins, associate director, stressed that the Center &ldquo;facilitates connections between the University and various social, political and economic entities that address Black experience.&rdquo;</p>
<p>In 2014, Johnson and Jenkins organized, promoted and ran a widely successful conference on &ldquo;Commemorating Freedom Summer.&rdquo;&nbsp;As Johnson pointed out, &ldquo;Over six months, the Center organized a series of events, including a re-enactment of the &lsquo;Freedom Day&rsquo; March and public dialogues about civil rights issues.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Johnson emphasized that the Conference highlighted &ldquo;the sacrifices and strategies of the local civil rights movement here in Hattiesburg.&rdquo; Not only did the conference bring civil rights activists who participated in Freedom Summer to campus, but also scholars from across the country.</p>
<p>Celebrating Black Heritage is also emphasized through teaching in Arts and Letters. Almost every department or school offers classes devoted to African American culture. The History and English Departments offer courses from freshman surveys to doctoral level seminars on African American history and culture. In particular, the History Department teaches specialty courses on&nbsp;Southern History that bring African American culture to the fore &mdash; the Old South, 20th Century Urbanism, etc.</p>
<p>Dr. Eric Tribunella, chair of the English Department, explains that the &ldquo;study of African American literature is integral to the Department&#39;s curriculum.&rdquo; Undergraduate majors must take at least one course on ethnic, postcolonial or African American literature. Upper level classes have focused on Richard Wright, the rhetoric of the civil rights movement and contemporary African American women playwrights.</p>
<p>At the Southern Miss Gulf Park campus, Constance Bailey&nbsp;is currently teaching a class on African American comedy. Students can also study Caribbean literature and culture through the study abroad program.</p>
<p>Political Science, Mass Communication and Journalism, and Sociology and Anthropology also offer students essential courses in African American&nbsp;studies. A widely praised course entitled Politics and Protest investigates the civil rights movement through film and learning activities such as discussions with civil rights veterans and visits to the African American Military Museum in Hattiesburg.</p>
<p>A member of both Interdisciplinary Studies and the History Department, Dr. Marcus Coleman extends his research on African American citizenship and black voter behavior by providing students with an opportunity to canvas black neighborhoods informing citizens about Mississippi&#39;s new voter ID law.</p>
<p>&ldquo;African Americans&#39; Achievements in the Media&rdquo; is a popular course in Mass Communication. Faculty in the Department of Communication Studies teach and explore issues of race relationships and civil rights, topics that are frequently used as the focal point in public speaking classes.</p>
<p>Moreover, some students have delivered memorial speeches at the Civil Rights Museum in Birmingham. African American traditions are the subjects of Sociology and Anthropology classes in Race and Ethnicity, Peoples and Cultures of Africa and the Archaeology of the Old South. New classes are scheduled throughout Arts and Letters. Dr. Sam Bruton is&nbsp;preparing to teach a class later this year on &ldquo;The Philosophy of Race,&rdquo; and Dr. Kimberly Davis from the School of Music will offer a new course next year called Black Music in America.</p>
<p>Besides honoring African American history through their teaching, Arts and Letters faculty have had a longstanding and impressive record of research in black history and culture. Five faculty members in the History Department alone have authored or are working on,&nbsp;major books &mdash; slavery in Colonial Virginia (Dr. Doug Chambers), black barbers in slavery and freedom and&nbsp;the resourcefulness of black enterprise (Dr. Douglas Bristol); the intertwined lives of poor whites, free blacks and slaves in the Early American Republic (Dr. Max Grivno); the National&nbsp;Council of Negro Women during the Civil Rights Movement (Dr. Rebecca Tuuri) and fabled African American musician Big Bill Broonzy (Dr. Kevin Greene).</p>
<p>Chambers and Grivno are also compiling a massive database about runaway slaves. Recently, Dr. Louis Kyriakoudes and the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage won a highly competitive National Endowment for the Humanities grant to digitize and transcribe previously unavailable interviews rich in African American heritage, thus enhancing Southern Miss&rsquo;s role as a premier institution to study black history and the civil rights movement.</p>
<p>In English, Johnson published <em>Black Women in the New South Literature and Culture </em>and currently serves as the Chair of the Executive Committee for the Modern Language&#39;s Division of Black Literature and Culture. Constance Bailey has recently published a major article on African American humor.</p>
<p>The College&rsquo;s Distinguished Professor Philip Kolin has published four books about African American women playwrights, including Suzan-Lori Parks, the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer for drama, and the first critical book on experimental playwright Adrienne Kennedy.</p>
<p>Kolin has also published extensively on Emmett Till, including numerous scholarly articles, a one act play that appeared in <em>Calaloo</em>, a major journal devoted to the African Diaspora; and his collection of poems, <em>Emmett Till in Different States</em>, will be published this fall by <em>Third World Press</em>, the largest independent black-owned press in America. Other English faculty are at work on books dealing with civil rights rhetoric, public discourse and folklore.</p>
<p>In Mass Communication, Dr. Cheryl Jenkins is co-editor and co-author of <em>Race and Media: Critical Perspectives</em> along with colleagues Christopher Campbell and Kim LeDuff. David Davies, Interim Director of the School of Mass Communication and Journalism, is following his important book <em>The Press and Race</em> with <em>The Press and the Issue of Race</em>. In Political Science, Dr. Marek Steedman has published an influential book entitled <em>Jim Crow Citizenship</em>.</p>
<p>The Arts in the College can also claim an impressive record of showcasing the work of African American dramatists, choreographers, photographers, poets and musicians. The Theatre Department, for example, has promoted African American history through recent main stage productions of Bruce Norris&#39;s <em>Clybourne Park</em>, August Wilson&#39;s <em>Fences,</em> the musical review, <em>Smokey Joe&#39;s Caf&eacute;</em> and currently Lynn Nottage&rsquo;s <em>By the Way, Meet Vera Stark </em>which uncovers the hidden history of black women actors in the golden age of the Hollywood film industry.</p>
<p>This semester, the Theatre Department also kicked off the University&#39;s celebration of Black History Month with performances by Harlem, a theatre and dance student collective, of <em>A Night at the Cotton Club</em> featuring the poetry of such prominent black writers as Langston Hughes and Claude McKay.</p>
<p>On Feb. 24, English professor Morgan Frank coordinated a reading entitled &ldquo;250 Years: Black Poetry from Phillis Wheatley to the Poets of Southern Miss,&rdquo; an event co-sponsored by the Departments of Theatre and English plus the Black History Month Committee. Frank&rsquo;s students read a ranging of works by black poets from various time frames as well as their original work.</p>
<p>In November, the Southern Miss Orchestra, conducted by Dr. Jay Dean, presented Joseph Britain&#39;s tribute to Natasha Trethewey&#39;s Pulitzer-prize winning book of poems, <em>Native Guard</em>, about the forgotten African American soldiers&nbsp;responsible for guarding Confederate prisons on Ship Island.</p>
<p>Trethewey read selections from her <em>Native Guard</em> as Britain&#39;s score surrounded her. In February, Kimberly David brought together an ensemble of pianists and vocalists in a production entitled <em>Honoring the African American Artist and Composer</em>, including Marian Anderson, the first African American to perform at the New York Metropolitan.</p>
<p>A vital part of the Freedom Summer Conference included the exhibit, curated by Professor Mark Rigsby, of photographs from Herbert Randall who spent the entire summer of 1964 documenting Freedom Schools, voter registration and Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party campaigns. According to Howard Paine, Chair of the Department of Art and Design, this show &quot;was the most significant Black History event the department has ever sponsored.&quot;</p>
<p>Beyond doubt, the College of Arts and Letters honors black heritage yearound through teaching, programs and research. Because of the College&rsquo;s exemplary work, Southern Miss can better recruit and retain students, foster faculty research, build stronger ties with the community and enhance our reputation as a center for archival study of the civil rights movement.</p>
AcademicsArts and LettersNews MakersFaculty and StaffGulf CoastFri, 27 Feb 2015 15:10:36 +00008023 at http://www.usm.edu/newsSouthern Miss Professor Wins National Dissertation Awardhttp://www.usm.edu/news/article/southern-miss-professor-wins-national-dissertation-award
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<p>Dr. Lissa Stapleton, assistant professor in the Higher Education Student Affairs program at The University of Southern Mississippi, has been selected as the winner of the 2015 Melvene D. Hardee Dissertation of the Year Award presented by NASPA &ndash; Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.</p>
<p>The award recognizes outstanding dissertation research conducted by doctoral degree recipients presently in, or intending to enter, the student affairs profession. Stapleton, who has been a member of the Southern Miss faculty since August, 2014, was honored for her dissertation titled, &ldquo;The Unexpected Talented Tenth: Black d/Deaf Student Thriving Within the Margins.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;I was extremely humbled and honored upon learning that I had received this award,&rdquo; said Stapleton, a native of Columbus, Ohio. &ldquo;I contacted my chair, family and participants immediately, as my dissertation journey was supported by a community of people. I couldn&rsquo;t have done it without them.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Before coming to Southern Miss, Stapleton served as a community director at California State University Northridge where she worked specifically with Deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Having learned American Sign Language as an undergraduate, she was able to have direct communication with her Deaf students. This connection allowed her a deeper understanding of the challenges, successes and equity issues Deaf students, faculty and staff encountered on a daily basis.</p>
<p>Among Stapleton&rsquo;s short-term goals are to successfully obtain tenure and promotion, convert her dissertation into a book, and to become more involved with local, national and international Deaf education organizations.</p>
<p>Stapleton, a first-generation college student, graduated from Wright State University in 2002 with a bachelor&rsquo;s degree in social work and a minor in African American studies. She earned a master&rsquo;s degree from the University of Dayton and a doctorate from Iowa State University.</p>
<p>She and the other national award winners will be honored at the NASPA Annual Conference, set for March 21-25 in New Orleans.</p>
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AcademicsEducation and PsychologyNews MakersFaculty and StaffFri, 27 Feb 2015 19:34:01 +00008025 at http://www.usm.edu/newsSouthern Miss College of Business now a Certiport Authorized Testing Centerhttp://www.usm.edu/news/article/southern-miss-college-business-now-certiport-authorized-testing-center
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<a href="/news/author/kristin-teston">Kristin Teston</a> </div>
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<p>The College of Business at The University of Southern Mississippi now serves as a Certiport Authorized Testing Center where students, faculty, and members of the community can earn professional certification in business software. Certiport offers certification in software programs such as Microsoft Office, MTA, IC3, Adobe, and QuickBooks.</p>
<p>Certiport is the world leader in performance-based certification exams and practice test solutions for academic institutions and workforce markets. There are more than 12,000 Certiport Authorized Testing Centers world-wide, but only four in the state of Mississippi. Before USM gained certification, the nearest Testing Center in the region was Jackson, MS.</p>
<p>Dr. Faye Gilbert, dean of the College of Business, launched this initiative in 2014. &ldquo;This is part of our commitment to supporting the Pine Belt community and working to improve our knowledge of business concepts and applications,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Gilbert also noted that Patrick Browning, Database and Assessment Coordinator for the College of Business, was instrumental in completing this project. Browning oversees the Joseph Green Hall digital testing lab, which seats up to forty-two test takers. The testing lab in Scianna will accommodate over 70 test takers.</p>
<p>For students in the College of Business, the Excel certification provides an important distinction on their resumes. According to Dr. Beth LaFleur, Associate Dean and MBA Director this certification is especially important to MBA students.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Analytical abilities are critical in the business world, and Excel is one of the most commonly used analytical tools,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;This certification assures employers that our Excel certified students enter the workforce with this important skill set.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The College of Business also purchased an unlimited license for GMetrix, Certiport&rsquo;s training software for the Excel exam. This product is available for free to College of Business students, faculty, staff, and alumni. To date, 72 students have completed the Excel certification.</p>
<p>For more information about Certiport exams, GMetrix, and test scheduling, visit <a href="http://www.usm.edu/business/certiport">http://www.usm.edu/business/certiport</a>.</p>
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AcademicsBusinessThu, 26 Feb 2015 14:36:20 +00008011 at http://www.usm.edu/newsSouthern Miss Spring Career Fair Sees Large Turnouthttp://www.usm.edu/news/article/southern-miss-spring-career-fair-sees-large-turnout
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<a href="/news/author/christy-lofton-mckissack">Christy Lofton McKissack</a> </div>
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<p>More than 91 companies were represented during The University of Southern Mississippi&rsquo;s 2015 Spring Career Fair held Tuesday, Feb. 24 in the Thad Cochran Center on the Hattiesburg campus.</p>
<p>The fair, hosted by the Office of Career Services, enabled Southern Miss students and alumni to network, discuss r&eacute;sum&eacute;s and learn about careers and internship opportunities.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We want students to discover the many career opportunities available and to learn the skills&nbsp;employers are seeking when making hires,&rdquo; said Rusty Anderson, director of Career Services.&nbsp;&ldquo;The event also serves to connect numerous students to professional career opportunities and meaningful internships.</p>
<p>LaKinta Griffin, human resources officer, Regions Financial Corporation, seeks out students at the career fair who have confidence and demonstrate a professional attitude. &ldquo;Students with an objective or plan attract my attention,&rdquo; said Griffin.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I encourage students to network with employers at the career fair, and make sure to follow up with a thank-you note re-expressing their interest in the company,&rdquo; said Kendall Farley, a May 2014 graduate of Southern Miss, who is employed at Cintas as a management trainee.</p>
<p>In conjunction with the career fair, The Office of Career Services partnered with Southern Miss Athletics and The Office of Greek Life on Monday night (Feb. 23) in the University&rsquo;s Touchdown Club to provide a meet-and-greet event.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The goal of the event was to offer students networking training for a professional environment with the opportunity to practice with the 35 company representatives attending the event,&rdquo; said Anderson.&nbsp;&ldquo;The primary focus was on creating a dynamic 60- second introduction to initiate meaningful business communications.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Networking events are important for students and global employers like Fastenal.&nbsp;It gives students the opportunity to learn outside of a textbook by helping students create relationships with business professionals,&rdquo; said Clay Rasco, district sales manager for South Mississippi, Fastenal Company. &ldquo;These events may be uncomfortable for students at first, but by participating you could end up finding a job, get career advice, learn about upcoming trends and more importantly, develop a relationship with someone that could become a mentor for years to come.&nbsp;I encourage any student we meet to get involved in activities where you can network, you never know what doors will open for you in the years ahead.&rdquo;</p>
<p>For more information about Career Services at Southern Miss, call 601.266.4153 or visit: <a href="http://www.usm.edu/career-services">http://www.usm.edu/career-services</a></p>
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AcademicsBusinessCommunityThu, 26 Feb 2015 20:51:20 +00008015 at http://www.usm.edu/newsGulf Park Campus Recognized as Platinum-Level Fit-Friendly Worksite by the American Heart Associationhttp://www.usm.edu/news/article/gulf-park-campus-recognized-platinum-level-fit-friendly-worksite-american-heart-association
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<p>After introducing a fitness center and offering healthier food options at The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Park Campus, the university&rsquo;s campus in Long Beach has now been recognized as a Platinum-Level Fit-Friendly Worksite by the American Heart Association. This designation was awarded to the Southern Miss Gulf Park campus for providing opportunities for employees to live a healthier lifestyle.</p>
<p>After receiving the Gold-Level Fit-Friendly Worksite designation in 2014, the Gulf Park campus demonstrated additional changes to better the university community allowing the campus to advance to the platinum level. These changes include the opening of the Southern Miss Fitness Center and the healthier food options available at the Beach View Caf&eacute;. To celebrate the opening of the Fitness Center in fall 2014, the university hosted a variety of events during &ldquo;Health and Fitness Week.&rdquo; These events included lunch and learn meetings, flu vaccinations and fitness classes featuring both yoga and Zumba.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Physical activity and employee wellness are important priorities at Southern Miss,&rdquo; said Dr. Steve Miller, interim vice president for the Gulf Park campus. &ldquo;We are honored and excited to be recognized by the American Heart Association as a Platinum-Level Fit-Friendly Worksite and we are committed to providing the best workplace environment possible. These improvements on our campus will benefit our employees&rsquo; health and produce even more positive results for our university overall.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The Fit-Friendly Worksites program is a catalyst for positive change in the American workforce by helping worksites make their employees&rsquo; health and well-being a priority. As a participating organization in the program, the Southern Miss Gulf Park campus will have free access to program resources and materials to help promote company wellness programs to employees, as well as internal newsletter templates and consultation on CPR/AED (automated external defibrillator) programs.</p>
<p>For more information about the Southern Miss Gulf Park campus, visit <a href="http://www.usm.edu/gulfcoast">www.usm.edu/gulfcoast</a>.</p>
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AcademicsHealthCommunityGulf CoastWed, 25 Feb 2015 14:46:06 +00008005 at http://www.usm.edu/newsDuBard School Seminar to Focus on Building Reading, Comprehension Skillshttp://www.usm.edu/news/article/dubard-school-seminar-focus-building-reading-comprehension-skills
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<a href="/news/author/vanessa-molden">Vanessa Molden</a> </div>
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<p>How can students use prefixes and suffixes to learn vocabulary and increase comprehension? How can we teach them to analyze text to increase reading comprehension?</p>
<p>Answers to these questions and more will be provided at Missing Links in Academics, a two-day seminar offered March 24-25 from 8:30 a.m.-3:45 p.m. at the DuBard School for Language Disorders on the Hattiesburg campus of The University of Southern Mississippi.</p>
<p>The seminar, designed for second through eighth grade general and special education teachers, reading specialists and speech-language pathologists, will provide instruction in multisensory techniques that can be used for students who need assistance with advanced decoding and comprehension.</p>
<p>The seminar will cover multisensory teaching-learning strategies for teaching the National Reading Panel five areas of reading, syllable types and syllable division rules, the use of morphemes as a way of increasing vocabulary knowledge, and more.</p>
<p>The fees are $275 for regular registration and $300 for late registration after March 6. Educators and speech-language pathologists/audiologists will have the opportunity to receive 1.2 continuing education units for attendance.&nbsp; Educator CEUs require an additional fee of $24.</p>
<p>For more information, or to register, call the Office of Professional Development and Educational Outreach at 601.266.4186 or go online at <a href="http://www.usm.edu/dubard-training">www.usm.edu/dubard-training</a>.</p>
AcademicsHealthCommunityWed, 25 Feb 2015 18:53:39 +00008007 at http://www.usm.edu/newsUniversity of Southern Mississippi Enhances Research Efforts with Purchase of Point Sur Vesselhttp://www.usm.edu/news/article/university-southern-mississippi-enhances-research-efforts-purchase-point-sur-vessel
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<p>The University of Southern Mississippi has added a valuable resource to its exploration and research efforts beneath the Gulf waters with the purchase of the &ldquo;Point Sur&rdquo; vessel from the San Jose State University Research Foundation.</p>
<p>The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning approved the purchase of the vessel in a special called meeting today (Feb. 25). The University acquired the state-of-the-art research vessel through a $1 million grant provided by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.</p>
<p>The vessel, which came to San Jose State University through a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation, was purchased for $875,000 with additional costs of $125,000 incurred to sail the ship from its port in Monterrey, Calif., to Gulfport, Miss. The vessel will require approximately three weeks to traverse the distance from California through the Panama Canal to Mississippi.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It is a testament to our ocean scientists&rsquo; reputation and successes that the National Science Foundation would approve re-depolyment of the Point Sur to&nbsp;Southern Miss,&rdquo; said Dr. Gordon Cannon, vice president for Research at Southern Miss. &ldquo;We appreciate the support of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality for the resources to purchase the ship, the leadership of Gov. Phil Bryant and his help in bringing the Point Sur to Southern Miss.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The purchase agreement provides Southern Miss with a vessel that can be utilized by the University and other interested parties to explore the Gulf of Mexico, including further research on the BP oil spill of 2010. The vessel will help Southern Miss &ndash; the State of Mississippi&rsquo;s designated Marine Sciences institution &ndash; enhance education and research opportunities for students and faculty who will have access to Point Sur&rsquo;s sophisticated technology and equipment.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Currently, there is no other oceanographic class research vessel home-ported in the northern Gulf of Mexico east of the Mississippi River,&rdquo; said Dr. Monty Graham, chair of the Department of Marine Science at Southern Miss. &ldquo;Having this vessel in our front yard at the Port of Gulfport will not only provide valuable return to the community for understanding the Deepwater Horizon spill, but will be a prime resource should another oil spill impact Mississippi&rsquo;s coastal waters.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The 135-foot Point Sur Vessel was built in 1980. It can accommodate 13 researchers and technicians, and a crew of eight. For day cruises, it has a capacity of 40 researchers. The main deck covers 1,100 square feet and includes a primary laboratory and wet laboratory. The ship sports a cruising speed of 9.5 knots and a range of 6,800 nautical miles at 10 knots.</p>
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AcademicsScience and TechnologyGulf CoastResearchWed, 25 Feb 2015 22:31:00 +00008009 at http://www.usm.edu/newsGriffis Earns Library and Information Science Research Granthttp://www.usm.edu/news/article/griffis-earns-library-and-information-science-research-grant
<p>Dr. Matthew Griffis, an assistant professor in The University of Southern Mississippi School of Library and Information Science (SLIS), was recently awarded a 2015 OCLC/ALISE Library and Information Science Research Grant.</p>
<p>Griffis&rsquo; project, entitled &ldquo;The Place of the Librarian in the Deskless Library: Do Roaming Reference Models Create a More User-Centered Library?&rdquo; will investigate the spatial relationships between library users and roaming (also known as &ldquo;roving&rdquo;) reference librarians in public and academic libraries. An extension of his Ph.D. dissertation, Griffis&rsquo; new study explores whether roaming reference service models create a more &ldquo;user-centered&rdquo; library than traditional, stationary reference models. He will visit libraries this spring and summer to collect data, and will present his findings at the ALISE Annual Conference in Boston, Mass. in January 2016.</p>
<p>Griffis joined the faculty at SLIS as a tenure-track assistant professor in August of 2013. His research interests include the library as place, library buildings as social architecture, public libraries as community spaces, the history of public libraries and librarianship and Carnegie libraries. His teaching interests include library foundations, archives and archival science, library history, research methods, and information technology in libraries.</p>
<p>For information about the Southern Miss School of Library and Information Science, visit <a href="http://www.usm.edu/library-information-science" title="http://www.usm.edu/library-information-science">http://www.usm.edu/library-information-science</a>.</p>
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AcademicsLibrariesMon, 23 Feb 2015 16:53:42 +0000w3017177997 at http://www.usm.edu/newsSouthern Miss Professor Appointed to Governor’s Task Forcehttp://www.usm.edu/news/article/southern-miss-professor-appointed-governor-s-task-force
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<a href="/news/author/hanna-knowles">Hanna Knowles</a> </div>
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<p>Dr. Tamara Hurst, assistant professor in The University of Southern Mississippi&rsquo;s School of Social Work, has been appointed to Gov. Phil Bryant&rsquo;s task force on human trafficking.</p>
<p>The task force was created in December 2014 and is facilitated by the Mississippi Department of Homeland Security. Hurst&rsquo;s current role is to educate other members about opportunities, challenges and research related to trafficking. She has also been asked to chair a subcommittee responsible for reviewing call center practices and reporting protocols.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The number of risk factors known to increase vulnerability to human trafficking are rampant in this state,&rdquo; said Hurst, a licensed clinical social worker and forensic interviewer. &ldquo;For example, research indicates that one out of three children in Mississippi has experienced two or more adverse childhood events such as abuse or neglect. These experiences can increase the chances of youth falling prey to manipulation by exploiters.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Hurst listed other contributing factors, such as poverty, a lack of legal economic opportunities, entry into the foster care system, exposure to transient populations, and caregiver dysfunction such as domestic violence and substance abuse.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We hope to provide targeted training for child welfare, law enforcement, foster parents, medical professionals and others,&rdquo; said Hurst. &ldquo;The vast majority of professionals and others who might identify victims of human trafficking have not had the benefit of training. Additionally, whatever training they have received has not been evaluated or followed up to determine its effectiveness. Implementing widespread training must be appropriately timed.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Hurst said there is no organized or efficient means of reporting to law enforcement or child welfare and there is a lack of therapeutic or other resources that can respond. &ldquo;These challenges are complex and it will take the entire task force along with subcommittee members to make an effective and sustainable change,&rdquo; said Hurst.</p>
<p>The task force and subcommittees will present their findings to the Governor by July 1, 2015.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;One of the most significant challenges we have in our communities is changing the perceptions of professionals and citizens who view sexually exploited youth as &lsquo;bad kids,&rsquo;&rdquo; said Hurst. &ldquo;It is much easier for some people to feel compassion and outrage when young children are exploited. Once these children become adolescents and teenagers we seem to engage in blaming the victim. Honestly, many of these youth do not engender much sympathy from people.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;We sometimes view victims as responsible for their own exploitation,&rdquo; said Hurst. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m hoping that efforts at building awareness will help change these perspectives.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Hurst was appointed to the task force due to her clinical practice and experience in addressing child sex trafficking. She has also been facilitating a work group comprised of state agency representatives. The group is dedicated to addressing issues related to human trafficking and has made progress in uncovering challenges and resources in Mississippi.</p>
<p>For more information about the School of Social Work at The University of Southern Mississippi, College of Health visit,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.usm.edu/social-work">www.usm.edu/social-work</a>.</p>
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AcademicsHealthMon, 23 Feb 2015 23:12:07 +0000w3017177999 at http://www.usm.edu/newsSouthern Miss Dean to Present at Mississippi Academy of Sciences Annual Meetinghttp://www.usm.edu/news/article/southern-miss-dean-present-mississippi-academy-sciences-annual-meeting
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<p>Dr. Michael Forster, dean of the College of Health and professor of social work at The University of Southern Mississippi, will be a guest speaker at the 79<sup>th</sup> annual Mississippi Academy of Sciences Meeting.</p>
<p>Forster will present &ldquo;Public Health-Related Implications of Climate Change&rdquo; Thursday, Feb.26 at 10:30 a.m. in the Thad Cochran Center. His presentation is part of the population health symposium, titled &ldquo;Improving Health Outcomes in Mississippi&rdquo; held from 8:45 a.m. - noon.</p>
<p>&ldquo;As the reality of climate disruption sinks in, prudence compels us to consider at least three aspects of a darkening health picture - recognizing known and projected health risks, planning to mitigate specific health impacts where possible, and acting to prevent a catastrophic spiral downward for the human species itself,&rdquo; said Forster.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Other symposium speakers include Mary Currier, State Health Officer for the Mississippi State Department of Health and Kristi Henderson, Chief Telehealth and Innovation Officer at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Presentations will be followed by a panel discussion.</p>
<p>The annual meeting is Feb. 26-27, 2015 at The University of Southern Mississippi&rsquo;s Thad Cochran Center and is free and open to the public. To learn more about the Mississippi Academy of Sciences, visit:&nbsp;<a href="http://msacad.org/">http://msacad.org/</a>.For more information about the College of Health, visit <a href="http://www.usm.edu/health">www.usm.edu/health</a>.</p>
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AcademicsHealthMon, 23 Feb 2015 23:20:45 +0000w3017178001 at http://www.usm.edu/newsState Treasurer Fitch Offers Support to New Southern Miss Nursing Buildinghttp://www.usm.edu/news/article/state-treasurer-fitch-offers-support-new-southern-miss-nursing-building
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<p>State Treasurer Lynn Fitch lauded the vision and leadership that helped fuel designs for a new College of Nursing building currently under construction at The University of Southern Mississippi during a visit to the Hattiesburg campus on Thursday, Feb. 19.</p>
<p>Asbury Hall, with an estimated construction cost of $31 million, is on schedule to be completed by May, 2016. The new building will increase the square footage dedicated to the College of Nursing by 135 percent and allow for an increase in nursing enrollment from the current 550 students to more than 800.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The role of health care in our state and region cannot be understated,&rdquo; said Fitch. &ldquo;And facilities such as Asbury Hall will enable The University of Southern Mississippi to educate and train the next generation of nurses who will provide the type of quality health care that will benefit patients in our state and beyond.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Fitch also took time to explain the bond funding process that played a pivotal role in getting Asbury Hall off the ground. The State Legislature appropriated $20 million in bond funding for the project.</p>
<p>Late last year the State Bond Commission authorized the sale of $157 million tax-exempt bonds (Series 2015A) and $129 million taxable bonds (Series 2015B), and the bonds were priced to sell in the open market on Feb. 3, 2015. The proceeds of the bond sale will allow Mississippi to fund economic development and capital improvement projects through the issuance of these bonds.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Having the opportunity to fund projects like the University of Southern Mississippi Asbury Hall is vital to our state,&rdquo; said Fitch. &ldquo;It is important to manage the long-term state debut in a conservative manner and to be prudent with our state&rsquo;s finances. Asbury Hall, paid in part by private dollars, is a perfect example of using our resources to ensure Mississippi stays competitive and allow our students to have access to the best schools and universities.&rdquo;</p>
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AcademicsEconomic DevelopmentHealthCommunityFri, 20 Feb 2015 16:25:14 +00007983 at http://www.usm.edu/newsCenter for Oral History and Cultural Heritage captures the story of Mississippihttp://www.usm.edu/news/article/center-oral-history-and-cultural-heritage-captures-story-mississippi
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<a href="/news/author/david-tisdale">David Tisdale</a> </div>
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<p><em>&ldquo;Well, I didn&#39;t know anything about voting; I didn&#39;t know anything about registering to vote. One night I went to the church. They had a mass meeting. And I went to the church, and they talked about how it was our right, that we could register and vote. They were talking about we could vote out people that we didn&#39;t want in office, we thought that wasn&#39;t right, that we could vote them out. That sounded interesting enough to me that I wanted to try it. I had never heard, until 1962, that black people could register and vote.&rdquo;</em></p>
<p>*Civil rights pioneer Fannie Lou Hamer of Ruleville, Miss., famed for saying &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sick and tired of being sick and tired&rdquo; talking about her efforts to register to vote during the early 1960s in the Mississippi Delta during an oral history interview, part of the collection of the University of Southern Mississippi&rsquo;s Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage.</p>
<p><em>&ldquo;I think, as long as I can remember. I recall when I was a little bitty boy, one Christmas they were talking about that somebody got a bottle of toilet water; and I said, &quot;Toilet water, do you pour that down the john?&quot; Everybody just laughed; I knew what they did with toilet water. I knew that they sloshed it on to make them smell good. Even now, since I got into show business and sold a lot of albums, people will go interview my mother, and my mother will bring up things that I did when I was a kid that I was trying to be humorous. I&#39;ve been telling stories all my life; I backed into the show business due to my storytelling ability.&rdquo;</em></p>
<p>*Comedian and Liberty, Miss. area native Jerry Clower, after being asked when his sense of humor developed, in a 1974 oral history interview that is part of the collection of the University of Southern Mississippi&rsquo;s Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage.</p>
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ####</p>
<p>From the hilarious musings of a beloved comedian to the wisdom of an oft-quoted civil rights heroine, the University of Southern Mississippi Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage&rsquo;s rich collection of interviews with Magnolia State natives is recognized as one of the premier repositories of its kind in the nation.</p>
<p>More than 4,000 interviews that began with the university&rsquo;s oral history program in the early 1970s make up the collection, which include the voices of people from all walks of life sharing their experiences ranging from military combat to surviving Hurricanes Camille and Katrina. Others include stories of Mississippi food ways, rural life, state and local politics, the history of the university and race relations, among many more.</p>
<p>The Center has also co-deposited many interviews in such archives as the Library of Congress, Tougaloo College, the Biloxi Mardi Gras Museum, the Biloxi Seafood Museum, Waveland&#39;s Ground Zero Hurricane Museum and the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The strengths of the Center&rsquo;s collection are broad and deep, but the common, unifying theme is its illumination of the history of Mississippi,&rdquo; said Dr. Louis Kyriakoudes professor of history and director of the Center.</p>
<p><em><strong>Center&rsquo;s work recognized with prestigious grant awards</strong></em></p>
<p>In recent years, the Center has secured grant funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities to digitize and make available on the internet its collection of interviews focused on the civil rights movement in Mississippi, and from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to support interviews with those communities whose livelihoods rely on the seafood industry that were affected by the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Now members of the public can go online and hear Fannie Lou Hamer tell her story of registering to vote for the first time, or of hearing Dr. Aaron Henry talk about working with the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party in challenging the state&rsquo;s all-white delegation at the Democratic National Convention (in 1964),&rdquo; Kyriakoudes said.</p>
<p>Hayden McDaniel, a doctoral student in history from Dothan, Ala. and graduate assistant in the Center, is project manager for the NEH grant-funded digitization project. The work of the project is going through the COHCH&rsquo;s collections and digitally preserving interviews that currently only exist on fragile cassette and reel-to-reel tape. Once digitized, the new recordings will be made available online through the Civil Rights in Mississippi Digital Archive and the Mississippi Digital Library, as well as the COHCH&rsquo;s website.</p>
<p>&ldquo;To be able to not only access the text of these interviews, but actually hear them, is a step in the right direction,&rdquo; McDaniel said.</p>
<p>Matthew Germenis, a graduate student in English from Queens, N.Y. Germenis&rsquo; research includes Jewish and African-American Literature of the 20th century. He serves as a graduate research assistant with the Center, assists with the NEH grant project in cataloging and preparing interviews for publication in the university&rsquo;s digital collection.</p>
<p>&ldquo;An oral history collection is indelible to a university in general,&rdquo; Germenis said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s an incredible privilege to work here and have all of this primary information available, especially for someone with my research interests The opportunity is amazing.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong><em>Millet, Walton assist director as keepers of the Center&rsquo;s mission</em></strong></p>
<p>COCH staffers include Stephanie Millet and Ross Walton. Walton wears several hats for the Center, including that of sound engineer, researcher, writer, producer of Mississippi Moments and audio CDs, and occasionally, narrator.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I think the Center is a true treasure for the State of Mississippi and Southern Miss.&nbsp; Our collection of interviews provides unique access into life and history here far beyond what can be gotten from textbooks and news stories,&rdquo; Walton said. &ldquo;We provide the human touch, the insider&rsquo;s perspective.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;One of the best parts of my job is when I am able to provide someone with a recording of a loved one who has long since passed on. For them to be able to hear that person&rsquo;s voice again is always an emotional experience. The power of human voice cannot be contained on paper.&rdquo;</p>
<p>With so many to choose from, Walton says the interview with Jerry Clower contends for top honors in his book. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to pick just one favorite, but I have to say that Jerry Clower is certainly one of them. He was such a decent man who just loved this state and humanity in general.&nbsp; And of course, he&rsquo;s so entertaining you can&rsquo;t help but smile.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Millet works as a transcriber, interviewer and editor for the Center. Her duties include interviewing; transcription of interviews; sending transcripts out to the interviewee for review; making changes as requested by the interviewee; writing tables of contents and biographies for them; proofreading them; having them bound; sending a copy to the interviewee; and archiving copies at the Center as well as sending a copy to Southern Miss Archives. She also trains others to conduct interviews, edits and archives the Center&rsquo;s backlog of transcribed interviews, and at various times functions as a receptionist when people come to the Center asking for guidance.</p>
<p>&ldquo;As we have moved into the era of e-mail, the experiences and memories of people that were once captured in written letters are disappearing,&rdquo; Millet said. &ldquo;All manner of electronic communications have made information available in an instant; however, the information may not be saved in any form. This makes oral history preservation important, to document our past, our traditions, experiences, interpretations, culture, heritage, and knowledge.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Millet said an interview she conducted that still resonates with her was with a nurse who was on duty at Biloxi Regional Hospital during and after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The nurse told of how the hospital went from treating 80 patients a day to treating 800 people a day, while also serving 2,000 meals a day to anyone who needed to eat.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;It (hospital) didn&#39;t charge money for any of these services,&rdquo; Millet said. &ldquo;If the storm surge had been 6 inches higher, the hospital would have lost their emergency generator, which powered lights in the parking lot that served as beacons to which survivors were drawn as they climbed down from attics, trees, and debris piles, suffering from snake bites, cuts, broken bones and all manner of injuries.&rdquo;</p>
<p><em><strong>Partnerships key to preserving Mississippi&rsquo;s story</strong></em></p>
<p>Since 1999, the Center has joined with the Mississippi Humanities Council and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in the Mississippi Oral History Project (MOHP), funded annually by the Mississippi state legislature. This innovative project was a ground breaking initiative to document the collective memory of Mississippi&rsquo;s culture, heritage, and institutions in the 20th and 21st centuries. The oral history projects within the MOHP are partnerships between the Mississippi Humanities Council, the Center for Oral History, and local communities and organizations to document their own past, capturing and preserving their local history and culture.</p>
<p>Mississippi Moments, an award winning weekly radio program airing on Mississippi Public Broadcasting, is another partnership between the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage and the Mississippi Humanities Council that includes MPB. The Center&rsquo;s staff meticulously combs through its vast collection to find interesting and entertaining stories for the program&rsquo;s listening audience.</p>
<p>Hosted by Bill Ellison and made possible by a We the People grant, the program airs Monday - Friday at 12:30 p.m. on MPB Radio. &quot;For 10 years, the Mississippi Moments radio broadcasts on MPB have brought to the people of Mississippi the stories of their common history from the people that experienced it,&rdquo; Kyriakoudes said. &ldquo;With this new daily schedule, we will be able to share more stories from our vast collections at the Center.&quot;</p>
<p>Listeners will hear about Freedom Summer, the Piney Woods, music, food and other aspects of history and culture of the Magnolia State found in the Center&rsquo;s collection interviews.</p>
<p>Walton, producer of Mississippi Moments, is excited to continue sharing through the program the stories that keep Mississippi&rsquo;s history and culture alive. &quot;Some of the most moving and memorable stories are of the people of our state persevering through difficult conditions, be they wartime service, natural disasters or fighting for civil rights,&quot; Walton said.</p>
<p>Mississippi Moments is also a podcast available for download anytime from the Center&rsquo;s website <a href="http://www.usm.edu/oral-history/mississippi-moments" title="http://www.usm.edu/oral-history/mississippi-moments">http://www.usm.edu/oral-history/mississippi-moments</a>, visiting its podcast page at MississippiMoments.org , or liking the Center&rsquo;s Facebook page. It can also be accessed anywhere by downloading episodes from iTunes or the Mississippi Moments App for Android from the Android Market.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The Humanities Council has had a long and productive relationship with the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage,&rdquo; said Dr. Stuart Rockoff, executive director of the Mississippi Humanities Council. &ldquo;Working together with the Humanities Council and the Department of Archives and History, the Center has been in the forefront of ensuring that the voices of our state&rsquo;s people, both famous and little known, have been preserved for future generations. The oral history collection they have amassed is an extraordinary resource for the citizens of Mississippi and beyond.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Learn more about the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage by visiting <a href="http://www.usm.edu/oralhistory" title="www.usm.edu/oralhistory">www.usm.edu/oralhistory</a>.</p>
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<a href="/news/article/center-oral-history-and-cultural-heritage-captures-story-mississippi" class="imagecache imagecache-gallery_190 imagecache-linked imagecache-gallery_190_linked"><img src="http://www.usm.edu/news/sites/default/files/imagecache/gallery_190/articles/photos/2015/February/COCH%204.JPG" alt="From left, Germenis, McDaniel, Millet, Kyriakoudes, Walton." title="" width="190" height="127" class="imagecache imagecache-gallery_190"/></a> </div>
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AcademicsArts and LettersFaculty and StaffStudentsFri, 20 Feb 2015 21:23:27 +0000w3017177985 at http://www.usm.edu/newsSouthern Miss Theatre to Present By The Way, Meet Vera Stark Beginning Feb. 21http://www.usm.edu/news/article/southern-miss-theatre-present-way-meet-vera-stark-beginning-feb-21
<p>As The University of Southern Mississippi celebrates Black History month, Southern Miss Theatre opens its spring theatre season in Tatum Theatre with By The Way, Meet Vera Stark. Lynn Nottage, a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and screenwriter, explores stereotypes and typecasting in her playful, sharp and poignant work.</p>
<p>Performance dates are Feb. 21, 25-28 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 22 and Mar. 1 at 2 p.m. A pre-show talk will take place at 1 p.m. prior to the Mar. 1 matinee performance. Tickets are $14 public; $10 faculty, staff, seniors, and military; $8 students and may be purchased by visiting <a href="http://www.southernmisstickets.com" title="www.southernmisstickets.com">www.southernmisstickets.com</a> or by calling 800-844-8425. Tickets are also sold at the box office prior to each performance.</p>
<p>Vera Stark is a talented African American actor and maid, determined to break into early Hollywood films. She must first contend with her competitive employer and an impossible industry.</p>
<p>Hillary Lewis, a Master&rsquo;s of fine arts in theatre performance candidate from Newport News, Va., plays the role of Vera Stark. Lewis believes the play is very relevant to audiences today.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Not only is the style of the play extremely theatrical in its use of multimedia and stylized lighting, but the play also deals with themes such as racial discrimination and equality, gender roles and gives us a unique view in the way many black actresses during that time period were, to quote from the show, &lsquo;both in their roles and commenting on them.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
<p>Emma Harr, a Master&rsquo;s of fine arts in theatre performance candidate from Atlanta, Ga., plays the role of Gloria.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The show itself crosses through three separate time periods - the 1930s, 1970s and early 2000s - and examines the evolution of race relations, gendered power dynamics and status in Hollywood and the entertainment industry,&rdquo; said Harr.</p>
<p>Harr goes on to say that this particular play is intensely relevant to the current social climate, noting how unfortunate it is to see story after story in the media about violent crimes being related to issues of race.</p>
<p>&nbsp;&ldquo;I find myself hearing these stories and seeing so many similarities to the research I&rsquo;ve done that goes back almost a hundred years ago - that yes, in general things are much better now than they were in 1933, but there are still so many obstacles ahead of us. This show reveals to us where we&rsquo;ve come from, asks us to evaluate where we are now and asks just how far we have yet to go,&rdquo; said Harr.</p>
<p>Lewis believes that By the Way, Meet Vera Stark is in theme with Black History Month at Southern Miss.</p>
<p>&ldquo;This year&rsquo;s Black History Month theme is &lsquo;to be young, gifted and black,&rsquo; which ties in beautifully with this show, as Vera can be described with these identities. We see her struggle to stand in the light of fame, while recognizing the need for change in black America,&rdquo; said Lewis.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I am so excited to take part in such an important and thrilling production, and I can&rsquo;t wait to bring this piece of art to the Hattiesburg community,&rdquo; Lewis added.</p>
<p>&ldquo;This show has been lovingly crafted into being by an incredible company of extremely talented and passionate artists. This show has challenged all of us to learn and grow together, and I am beyond grateful for the experience,&rdquo; said Harr.</p>
<p>For more information about the Department of Theatre, which is part of the College of Arts and Letters, call 601.266.4994 or visit <a href="http://www.usm.edu/theatre" title="www.usm.edu/theatre">www.usm.edu/theatre</a>.</p>
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AcademicsArts and LettersCommunityFri, 20 Feb 2015 22:49:10 +0000w3017177987 at http://www.usm.edu/newsReception Held to Honor Distinguished Professor Frances A. Karnes, Announce $250,000 Challenge Gifthttp://www.usm.edu/news/article/reception-held-honor-distinguished-professor-frances-karnes-announce-250000-challenge-gift
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<p>A renowned advocate for children with exceptional abilities was recognized for her service to the field of gifted education Feb. 19 when The University of Southern Mississippi honored Dr. Frances A. Karnes at a reception on the Hattiesburg campus.</p>
<p>The reception was presented by the Southern Miss College of Education and Psychology and the USM Foundation and included the announcement of a $250,000 matching gift challenge to the Frances A. Karnes Chair in Gifted Education Endowment. The gift challenge from an anonymous donor is part of a plan to complete the Karnes Endowed Chair in Gifted Education, which provides the opportunity for friends and colleagues of Dr. Karnes and supporters of the Center to assist in the initiative.</p>
<p>In 2002, the Frances A. Karnes Endowed Chair in Gifted Education was established to honor Dr. Karnes&rsquo; vision of meeting the educational needs and challenges of gifted students. This distinguished academic position recognizes visionary leadership to promote academic excellence. Dr. Karnes held the Karnes Endowed Chair in Gifted Education from the time it was established until her recent retirement from the University in 2014.</p>
<p>&ldquo;This (Karnes Endowed Chair) is a wonderful opportunity to honor Dr. Karnes for her positive impact on gifted education, and her many years of service to Southern Miss,&rdquo; said Dr. Ann Blackwell, dean of the College of Education and Psychology.</p>
<p>The USM Foundation is leading an effort to complete the funding for the Karnes Endowed Chair by raising the endowment to $1 million. The fully funded endowment intends to:</p>
<p>*Provide assurance to the University and to the Karnes Center that the position will be funded in perpetuity;</p>
<p>*Enrich the University by attracting and retaining highly qualified faculty; and</p>
<p>*Help to eliminate the uncertainty of budget constraints and fluctuation of funding.</p>
<p>The current corpus balance of the endowment is approximately $500,000. To assist in reaching the $1 million goal, and thanks to the generosity of the anonymous donor, all contributions, up to $250,000, will be matched to ensure the endowment becomes fully funded at $1 million.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Dr. Karnes has been an important member of the Southern Miss and Hattiesburg communities for decades,&rdquo; said Shannon Fleming, Executive Director of the USM Foundation. &ldquo;We encourage friends and donors who are interested in honoring Dr. Karnes and supporting the Karnes Center for Gifted Studies to take this opportunity have their contributions matched dollar-for-dollar.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Karnes, a retired Distinguished University Professor and former director of the Frances A. Karnes Center for Gifted Studies at Southern Miss, served on the University&rsquo;s faculty from 1973 until 2014 as a professor in its Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Special Education (CISE). She founded the Center for Gifted Studies in 1979, which has furthered the education of thousands of gifted students and those with leadership abilities through teaching, research and service, as well as academic and leadership enrichment programs. Her late husband, Dr. Ray Karnes, also served on the Southern Miss faculty as professor of educational administration.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I had a wonderful career at USM,&rdquo; Karnes said. &ldquo;The people here have been very kind and supportive of our efforts to establish and expand gifted education in Mississippi.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Named for its founder in 1999, the Karnes Center for Gifted Studies provides support for teachers of gifted and academically talented students and their families. Karnes and the Center have impacted public policy in Mississippi and across the nation to improve gifted education curriculum and funding, while her graduate students have gone on as educators at all levels to advance her vision across the country and around the globe.</p>
<p>Thousands of students have enrolled in the Center&rsquo;s popular Leadership, Saturday Gifted Studies, Summer Gifted Studies and Summer Academically Talented Youth programs over the years, which offer courses and enrichment/accelerated programs taught by qualified educators and presenters from professional backgrounds.</p>
<p>Karnes has collaborated with many of her current and former graduate students in publishing hundreds of articles in peer reviewed journals and multiple books on gifted education and has been a prominent advocate for legislation benefiting gifted education in Mississippi and across the nation. Her graduates have gone on to work in academia, private industry and the public sector to advance her vision for gifted education across the country and around the globe.</p>
<p>&ldquo;When we (Ray and Frances Karnes) came to Mississippi, gifted education didn&rsquo;t exist, so I worked with our local legislators and we got gifted into the definition for (identifying) exceptional children,&rdquo; Karnes said. &ldquo;Now what&rsquo;s going on in this state is absolutely amazing, with programs for gifted in public schools, the School for Mathematics and Science and the School of the Arts.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Among her many honors and awards, Karnes was the 2003 recipient of the Mississippi Association for Gifted Children&rsquo;s Award for Excellence, and she received the Distinguished University Professor designation at Southern Miss in 2010. Also in 2010, she was named to TeachTechTopia&rsquo;s Top 10 Most Influential Special Education Professors and was included in the National Association of Professional Women&rsquo;s Legacy registry in 2011-2012.</p>
<p>Karnes has also generously given her time in community service, including to the Hattiesburg area Boys and Girls Club Advisory Council; the Hattiesburg Public School Foundation Board; the Forrest General Hospital Spirit of Women Advisory Council; the Forrest General Healthcare Foundation Board; the National Association for Gifted Children; the Mississippi Association for Gifted Children; and the Council for Exceptional Children.</p>
<p>For information on how to support the Karnes Endowed Chair in Gifted Education, contact the USM Foundation at 601.266.5210 or visit <a href="http://www.usmfoundation.com">www.usmfoundation.com</a>.</p>
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AcademicsFeaturesEducation and PsychologyCommunityEventsFaculty and StaffFri, 20 Feb 2015 01:32:54 +0000w3017177982 at http://www.usm.edu/newsSouthern Quarterly Selected for International Distribution By Project Musehttp://www.usm.edu/news/node/7976
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<a href="/news/author/ashlea-maddox">Ashlea Maddox</a> </div>
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<p>The University of Southern Mississippi&rsquo;s The Southern Quarterly is now included in the Project Muse database, a collection of electronic journals that is a leading provider of digital humanities and social sciences content. This collaboration will help fulfill Southern Miss&rsquo; goal of recruiting outstanding students and faculty.</p>
<p>The special issue celebrating the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer will be the first Southern Quarterly publication in Project Muse, which will be distributed mid-February to coincide with Black History Month.</p>
<p>Project Muse is an electronic database primarily for scholarly books and journals from universities and non-profit organizations. The Southern Quarterly has a history of 52 years, and Philip Kolin, University Distinguished Professor and editor of The Southern Quarterly, exclaims how monumental it is to finally be a part of the prestigious Project Muse database.</p>
<p>&ldquo;This has been a goal of mine since I became editor in The Southern Quarterly four years ago,&rdquo; Kolin said. &ldquo;It means that The Southern Quarterly will reach exponentially more scholars and students worldwide and confirms the journal&#39;s reputation as a major publication in the arts and the humanities.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Dr. Steven R. Moser, dean of the College of Arts and Letters, believes the partnership with Project Muse will allow The Southern Quarterly to attain a higher profile, but will also reach an international audience.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The Southern Quarterly is one of the top academic journals in the country that focuses on the arts and humanities,&quot; Moser said. &quot;Our collaboration with Project Muse and the potential to add to what is already a solid world-wide audience among academia.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Project Muse has a vast network for disseminating works and these works are fully integrated for search and discovery, which is a main reason why The Southern Quarterly is allowing a non-exclusive right to its works. This will potentially allow revenue streams that this journal has not witnessed before.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The creative works of our university will reach a larger audience as a result of us allowing our rights to a company to push our publications out for us,&rdquo; Chase Kasper, director of the Office of Technology Development, said. &ldquo;This exposure will enhance The Southern Quarterly&rsquo;s reputation.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;This will make scholars more excited to submit to us,&rdquo; Kasper said. &ldquo;More people will be reading on Project Muse because it&rsquo;s more widely available.&quot;</p>
<p>Project Muse&rsquo;s mission is to excel in the distribution of scholarly content. This organization anticipates the needs of and delivers essential resources to all members of the scholarly community.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re highlighting the work that is being done at the university and throughout the South,&rdquo; Kasper said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the key to all of this. I think it&rsquo;ll be good for our faculty and staff to know that we are working to get their works out there.&quot;</p>
<p>For more information about The Southern Quarterly being a part of Project Muse, contact the College of Arts and Letters by calling 601.266.4315.</p>
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AcademicsArts and LettersWed, 18 Feb 2015 16:45:03 +0000w3017177976 at http://www.usm.edu/newsChildren’s Center at Southern Miss, Newk’s Eatery in 4th Year of Partnershiphttp://www.usm.edu/news/article/children-s-center-southern-miss-newk-s-eatery-4th-year-partnership
<p>Food, friendship and enthusiasm for a great cause are the bedrock of the partnership born in 2011 between Newk&rsquo;s Cafe and The Children&rsquo;s Center for Communication at Development at Southern Miss. Newk&rsquo;s, and general manager David Cullop, a Children&#39;s Center alumni dad, has turned the third Thursdays of each month at his Newk&#39;s restaurant into &ldquo;Third Thursday for The Children&rsquo;s Center.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Since September 2011, Cullop has given The Children&rsquo;s Center a percentage of his gross sales between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month. Cullop noted that his son is a &ldquo;graduate&rdquo; of The Children&#39;s Center and is now a thriving first-grader. &ldquo;&quot;I am so appreciative of what The Children&rsquo;s Center did for my son and for what they do for every child they serve.&rdquo;</p>
<p>February 19 is the next &ldquo;Third Thursday for The Children&#39;s Center.&rdquo; Newk&#39;s monthly gift is based on all sales, whether dine-in or take-out.</p>
<p>Sarah Case-Price, the Center director, says Newk&rsquo;s Third Thursdays give the Center even more than financial support. &ldquo;Our families, staff, and board members look forward to &lsquo;Third Thursdays for The Children&#39;s Center&rsquo; as a monthly celebration of our important work for young children with disabilities,&rdquo; said Price. &ldquo;We are so grateful for David&#39;s support and for the support of his staff and patrons.&rdquo;</p>
<p>A United Way agency, The Children&rsquo;s Center is a clinical program within the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at Southern Miss that provides transdisciplinary early intervention services for children with disabilities, ages birth through age 5. For more information call 601.266.5222 or visit: <a href="http://www.usm.edu/early-intervention-childrens">http://www.usm.edu/early-intervention-childrens</a></p>
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AcademicsHealthCommunityTue, 17 Feb 2015 15:13:33 +00007957 at http://www.usm.edu/newsDefatta, Scharfenstein attend Beta Gamma Sigma Student Leadership Conferencehttp://www.usm.edu/news/article/defatta-scharfenstein-attend-beta-gamma-sigma-student-leadership-conference
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<a href="/news/author/kristin-teston">Kristin Teston</a> </div>
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<p>University of Southern Mississippi students Alisha DeFatta and Kayla Scharfenstein were chosen to attend the Beta Gamma Sigma Student Leadership Forum held Feb. 5-8 in San Diego, Calif. The forum provides a hands-on learning experiences for business students across the country to improve their leadership skills.</p>
<p>DeFatta is a senior finance major, and currently serves as the vice-president of public relations for the University&rsquo;s Beta Gamma Sigma chapter. DeFatta is also a member of numerous honor societies on campus and works as a tutor for both the First Year Initiative Office and the College of Business.</p>
<p>Scharfenstein is a junior accounting major. Along with Beta Gamma Sigma, she is a member of several other honor societies, the Honors College and the Baptist Student Union. Scharfenstein also spends much of her time volunteering with Savannah Smiles and working in medical records at a local clinic.</p>
<p>Wanda Fennell, Beta Gamma Sigma advisor and professor of Management and International Business, said she considered it a privilege to teach DeFatta and Scharfenstein in her Operations Management course.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Over the last two years, I&rsquo;ve come to know them both, and while they excel academically, it is their intellectual contributions during class, their strong work ethic, and their willingness to help others that places them in an elite group of students,&rdquo; Fennell commented.</p>
<p>The program began in 2001 and continues to influence Beta Gamma Sigma members from across the country in the areas of leadership and social interaction.</p>
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&quot;It was such an enriching experience to be surrounded by some of the best and brightest students in business and having the chance to learn and network with them,&rdquo; said DeFatta. &ldquo;At the Beta Gamma Sigma Leadership conference I not only learned how to become a better leader, but also learned how important it is to be a better follower.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Scharfenstein also said the forum lead her to realize the importance of becoming a good follower. &ldquo;The BGS Student Leadership Forum taught me many valuable lessons that I will carry for a long time, but I think the most valuable lesson I learned was that the same qualities that make a good follower, make a good leader,&rdquo; she said.</p>
<p>As members of Beta Gamma Sigma, DeFatta and Scharfenstein have earned the highest academic recognition business students at an AACSB-accredited intuition can receive during their undergraduate or graduate career. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>For more information about Beta Gamma Sigma and other College of Business organizations, visit <a href="http://www.usm.edu/business/student-organizations">http://www.usm.edu/business/student-organizations</a>.</p>
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AcademicsBusinessHometown NewsStudentsTue, 17 Feb 2015 15:21:33 +00007959 at http://www.usm.edu/newsForeign Policy Expert Returns Home To Honor Father/Southern Miss Professorhttp://www.usm.edu/news/article/foreign-policy-expert-returns-home-honor-fathersouthern-miss-professor
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<p>As an expert on U.S. foreign policy and international politics, former White House senior staffer, Dr. Henry Nau, has been all over the world. On Feb. 23, however, he is coming home to Hattiesburg where his roots are deep at The University of Southern Mississippi.</p>
<p>His father, Dr. John F. Nau, was the first chaplain at Southern Miss, where he taught for 26 years before retiring. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the Department of Philosophy and Religion and served as its first chair for 17 years. To honor the memory and legacy of their father, the children of Dr. Nau will make a donation to the John F. Nau Endowment in Philosophy and Religion.</p>
<p>&ldquo;My father was a minister and teacher. He made very little money in his lifetime,&rdquo; said Henry Nau. &ldquo;But he was emphatic that if anything was left over after his death and his wife&rsquo;s death, he wanted it to go to his beloved Department of Philosophy and Religion at Southern Miss.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Henry Nau will present at a special lecture at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 23, at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the Peck House, located at 3601 Pearl Street. Nau will discuss his thoughts about current American foreign policy and his father&rsquo;s legacy at the lecture -- a partnership between the Department of Philosophy and Religion and Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. The event is free and open to the public.</p>
<p>Henry Nau grew up in Hattiesburg and graduated from Hattiesburg High School. He holds a B.S. degree in economics, politics and science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from The Johns Hopkins University. He is currently a professor of Political Science and International Affairs at The George Washington University, where he also serves as director of the U.S-Japan-South Korea Legislative Exchange Program.</p>
<p>From January 1981 to July 1983, he served on President Reagan&#39;s National Security Council as senior staff member responsible for international economic affairs. He has also published a number of articles and books, including his latest, &ldquo;<a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10096.html"><em>Conservative Internationalism:&nbsp;Armed Diplomacy under Jefferson,&nbsp;Polk, Truman, and Reagan</em></a>.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;My book is about American foreign policy and raises the timely question of whether America, after difficult experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq, is returning to an isolationist approach toward the world,&rdquo; explains Dr. Henry Nau.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We are honored to welcome Dr. Henry Nau home to Southern Miss and join him in paying tribute to his father, Dr. John Nau, who was a man of high ideals, excellent character and a great friend to the University,&rdquo; said Dr. Steven R. Moser, Dean of the College of Arts and Letters.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We also are pleased to have someone of Dr. Henry Nau&rsquo;s stature in international politics and economics to share some thoughts with the Southern Miss and Hattiesburg community,&rdquo; Moser added.</p>
<p>For more information about the John F. Nau Endowment Fund in Philosophy and Religion, contact the Department of Philosophy and Religion by calling 601.266.4521.</p>
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AcademicsArts and LettersLecturesCommunityEventsTue, 17 Feb 2015 16:31:48 +00007961 at http://www.usm.edu/newsDale Center Event set for Feb. 21 at Mississippi Museum of Arthttp://www.usm.edu/news/article/dale-center-event-set-feb-21-mississippi-museum-art
<p>War imagery&nbsp;and its&nbsp;influences will be the focus of a program hosted by The University of Southern Mississippi&rsquo;s Dale Center for the Study of War and Society Saturday, Feb. 21 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The Art of War&rdquo; will be held in conjunction with the museum&rsquo;s exhibit &ldquo;Civil War Drawings from the Becker Collection.&rdquo; The Becker Collection offers visitors the opportunity to explore the role artists played as war correspondents, using their skills to convey the complexities of war to communities far from the front lines. Building on this theme, the &ldquo;Art of War&rdquo; day will feature a morning roundtable discussion with six Dale Center historians discussing iconic images of conflict and their influence on society, with topics ranging from 16th century Korea to the Vietnam War.</p>
<p>The program will also include a book signing by panelists, a curator-led tour of the Becker Collection exhibit, and an afternoon lecture by Dr. Susannah Ural, co-director of the Dale Center, on Civil War soldiers and families tied to her recent book Don&rsquo;t Hurry Me Down to Hades.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;This is a wonderful opportunity for Southern Miss to collaborate with the Mississippi Museum of Art, highlighting the crossroads where the fields of war and society and the arts intersect,&rdquo; said Dr. Ural. &ldquo;The Becker Collection offers powerful examples of how home front communities learned about the Civil War through images drawn by the photojournalists of the day, like Joseph Becker.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Building on the idea of informing readers through imagery, Dale Center faculty presenting at the program will have all selected images from their conflict of specialty to show how art captured the tensions or hopes or concerns of the day.</p>
<p>The roundtable will be held from 10 &ndash; 11 a.m. and feature the following Dale Center faculty members and their presentations:</p>
<p>*Dr. Kenneth Swope, &ldquo;Japanese Calamity of 1592&rdquo;<br />
*Dr. Kyle Zelner, &ldquo;Two Artists, Three Deaths, Two Empires&rdquo;<br />
*Dr. Alison Abra, &ldquo;How Britain Danced Democracy During World War II&rdquo;<br />
*Dr. Douglas Bristol, &ldquo;How Africa-American War Correspondents Shaped our Understanding of World War II&rdquo;<br />
*Dr. Heather Stur, &ldquo;Wartime Images of Fierce Vietnamese Women&rdquo;<br />
*Dr. Andrew Wiest, &ldquo;Vietnam: Paying the Cost of War&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;The Art of War&rdquo; is supported by the Mississippi Museum of Art, the&nbsp;USM Foundation and the College of Arts and Letters. For more information, visit <a href="http://www.usm.edu/war-society" title="http://www.usm.edu/war-society">http://www.usm.edu/war-society</a> and view the section titled &ldquo;Events.&rdquo;</p>
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AcademicsArts and LettersMon, 16 Feb 2015 17:56:16 +0000w3017177955 at http://www.usm.edu/newsFaculty Member Receives Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Awardhttp://www.usm.edu/news/article/southern-miss-faculty-receives-most-distinguished-athletic-trainer-award
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<a href="/news/author/hanna-knowles">Hanna Knowles</a> </div>
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<p>Dr. Bill Holcomb, associate professor and director of the Athletic Training Program at The University of Southern Mississippi&rsquo;s School of Human Performance and Recreation has been selected to receive a 2015 Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award from the National Athletic Trainers&rsquo; Association (NATA). Holcomb will receive his award in June at the NATA annual meeting in St. Louis, Mo.</p>
<p>&quot;I am very pleased to be recognized as a most distinguished athletic trainer and honored to be in the company of many huge figures in the association who have served the NATA for more than 20 years,&rdquo; said Holcomb, a Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) certified Athletic Training Program Director. &ldquo;I would like to thank former Southern Miss Athletic Training Program Director and NATA Hall of Fame member, Jim Gallaspy for serving as my advocate for this award.&quot;<br />
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This national award recognizes NATA members for their contributions and dedication to the association and athletic training profession. Holcomb has been a NATA member since 1988 and has served as the NATA&#39;s liaison to the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) for 10 years, and has presented his research at 17 NATA national conferences. In 2013, Holcomb was named a NATA Fellow, a status reserved for members who distinguish themselves in the athletic training profession through quality research, educational contributions and significant service to the profession.</p>
<p>The 2015 Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award will be presented to 17 other recipients, including Dr. Michael Miller, Graduate Athletic Training Program Director at Western Michigan University, Dr. Kevin Guskiewicz, Kenan Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina, and current NATA president James Thornton.</p>
<p>Holcomb has more than 40 papers published in refereed journals, has published a textbook and contributed to a number of textbook chapters. He has served on the editorial board for several journals, including the Journal of Athletic Training and Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.</p>
<p>Other professional services include vice chair of the NSCA Certification Commission, and vice president of the NSCA Board of Directors. For his research and service contributions to the NSCA he was named a Fellow in 2008. Holcomb has presented nationally and internationally, including a lecture series at the Chinese Olympic Committee&rsquo;s Sports Trainer Workshop, and at the World Scientific Congress on Golf in St Andrews, Scotland.</p>
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AcademicsHealthFri, 13 Feb 2015 22:10:55 +0000w3017177951 at http://www.usm.edu/newsBrannock selected to 2015 Archives Leadership Institute at Luther Collegehttp://www.usm.edu/news/article/brannock-selected-2015-archives-leadership-institute-luther-college
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<a href="/news/author/dawn-smith">Dawn Smith</a> </div>
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<p>In a competitive application process, Jennifer Brannock, associate professor and curator of Rare Books and Mississippiana at the University of Southern Mississippi, has been selected as a participant in the 2015 Archives Leadership Institute (ALI).<br />
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ALI is a program funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, a statutory body affiliated with the National Archives and Records Administration, and is being hosted at Luther College for the years 2013-15. The Archives Leadership Institute at Luther College (ALI@Luther) will provide advanced training for 25 emerging and innovative leaders, giving them the knowledge and tools to transform the archival profession in practice, theory and attitude.</p>
<p>In support of the project, Luther College Archives was awarded $216,150 by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the granting agency of the National Archives and Records Administration.</p>
<p>Participants were selected for the 2015 ALI@Luther program participant based on their leadership skills and potential, ability to influence policy and change within an organization and the archival field, commitment to the archival profession, career progress and history, organizational involvement, professional motivation and goals, a collaborative and innovative spirit and diversity and&nbsp;specialization&nbsp;within the profession.</p>
<p>Brannock holds an M.A. in Art History and an M.L.S. from the University of Kentucky. Prior to joining Southern Miss, she was the Kress Fellow in Art Librarianship at Yale University.&nbsp; She currently serves as president of the Society of Mississippi Archivists, steering committee member of the Regional Archival Associations Consortium (RAAC), chair of the RAAC education subcommittee, and is the former chair of the Mississippi Library Association chapter of the Association of College &amp; Research Libraries.</p>
<p>The Leadership Intensive held at Luther College is a weeklong immersion program that embraces a distraction-free, focused opportunity for emerging archival leaders to develop necessary theories, skills and knowledge. Participants will engage in daylong workshops focusing on current and vital strategies for archival leadership such as new leadership thinking and methods, strategies for born digital resources, project management, human resource development and advocacy and outreach. Participants will also take part in team building activities that embrace the beauty and fresh-air of the Upper Iowa River bluff country in northeast Iowa.</p>
<p>Following the weeklong intensive at Luther College, participants will return to their institutions to develop a post-intensive practicum project. The chosen practicum project will serve as the primary focus for all ALI@Luther participants in the following year and will meet the goal of connecting archival leadership skills with practical application. Throughout this process, an ALI steering committee mentor will provide guidance and support for the proposed project.</p>
<p>The institute will conclude with a practices workshop to be held in conjunction with the Society of American Archivists&#39; annual meeting in August 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio. The content of the practices workshop will consist of facilitated conversation focused on applying leadership learning to ongoing projects and practicums.</p>
<p>To learn more about ALI@Luther, visit <a href="http://www.archivesleadershipinstitute.org. " title="www.archivesleadershipinstitute.org. ">www.archivesleadershipinstitute.org. </a><br />
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AcademicsLibrariesThu, 12 Feb 2015 15:52:53 +0000w3017177939 at http://www.usm.edu/newsSouthern Miss Collaborating with Forrest General Hospital on Staph Researchhttp://www.usm.edu/news/article/southern-miss-collaborating-forrest-general-hospital-staph-research
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<a href="/news/author/david-tisdale">David Tisdale</a> </div>
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<p>University of Southern Mississippi researchers and Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg have established a collaborative research effort focused on Staph infection. From left, microbiology students Justin Batte of Laurel, Miss. and &nbsp;Dhritiman Samanta of West Bengal, India; Dr. Luis Marcos, director of Forrest General&rsquo;s Infection Prevention Department; and Dr. Mohamed Elasri, professor of microbiology at Southern Miss meet to discuss the next stage of the project in Elasri&rsquo;s laboratory on the Hattiesburg campus. (University Communications photo by David Tisdale)</p>
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AcademicsScience and TechnologyThu, 12 Feb 2015 23:15:31 +0000w3017177943 at http://www.usm.edu/newsHunter-Gault: Uphold Values of Civil Rights Movementhttp://www.usm.edu/news/article/hunter-gault-keep-spirit-civil-rights-movement-alive
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<a href="/news/author/david-tisdale">David Tisdale</a> </div>
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<p>She withstood the hostility of fellow students and others as one of the first African Americans to integrate then all-white University of Georgia in 1961. In doing so, Charlayne Hunter-Gault leaned on the protection of her &ldquo;body armor,&rdquo; her metaphor for the values instilled by her family and community&nbsp;that raised her.&nbsp;</p>
<p>An award-winning journalist with stints at National Public Radio, Public Broadcasting Service and the Cable News Network, Hunter-Gault was the keynote speaker for the annual Armstrong-Branch Lecture Series Feb. 10 on the Hattiesburg campus. The lecture honors Gwendolyn Armstrong and Raylawni Branch, the University&rsquo;s first African American students. The two broke the color barrier at Southern Miss when they enrolled in September 1965.</p>
<p>Even if they didn&rsquo;t have the benefits of first-class citizenship, Hunter Gault said her family &ldquo;developed for us a first-class sense of ourselves.&rdquo; She recounted how the community of her childhood raised&nbsp;money to offset the underfunding of black schools, and made sure the achievements of African Americans were part of their children&rsquo;s education. &ldquo;Every day was black history day,&rdquo; she said.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I had a suit of armor made of those values, created for me, that helped me graduate from Georgia and face the challenges of being a journalist,&rdquo; she said. She called on her audience at Bennett Auditorium to &ldquo;craft a suit of armor with the values of our heritage.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Those are values that don&rsquo;t outgrow, that don&rsquo;t get old,&rdquo; she said.</p>
<p>Being chosen as the guest speaker for the Armstrong-Branch Lecture was yet another watershed moment in her life, Hunter-Gault said, and praised the two women for &ldquo;blazing a trail&rdquo; for future African American students at the school.</p>
<p>She noted that even though Armstrong and Branch entered Southern Miss with minimal disruption, their choice to break the color barrier at the school still took bravery. &ldquo;I can just imagine that there were challenges,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Bravo, dear sisters.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Hunter-Gault praised the women of the civil rights movement whose efforts, she said, were too often overlooked because of their gender. &ldquo;Women were the backbone of the (civil rights) movement,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;They were the multi-taskers of the movement.&rdquo;</p>
<p>She said the importance of such commemorations as the Armstrong-Branch Lecture and Black History Month events were important to &ldquo;keep alive the values of that history&rdquo; of the civil rights movement to counter racial discrimination, including what she sees as a renewed effort to diminish minority voter participation. &ldquo;We see the elephant in the room of our democracy, it&rsquo;s growing bigger by the day and it&rsquo;s called racism,&rdquo; Hunter-Gault said.</p>
<p>To realize Martin Luther King Jr.&rsquo;s dream of a more enlightened, peaceful and color blind society doesn&rsquo;t mean one has to take to the streets and demonstrate, she said.</p>
<p>&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t have to be on a picket line. Simply live according to the values our country was founded on,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Live and treat others the way you want to be treated. Say hello to someone who doesn&rsquo;t look like you.&rdquo;</p>
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AcademicsHonorsWed, 11 Feb 2015 22:42:43 +0000w3017177931 at http://www.usm.edu/newsSouthern Miss Lecture Series Features Noted Speakers for Spring Semesterhttp://www.usm.edu/news/article/southern-miss-lecture-series-features-noted-speakers-spring-semester
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<a href="/news/author/van-arnold">Van Arnold</a> </div>
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<p>The University of Southern Mississippi&rsquo;s popular University Forum Lecture Series will continue throughout the Spring 2015 semester with an acclaimed array of speakers scheduled to offer insightful presentations.</p>
<p>The lecture series is sponsored by the University&rsquo;s Honors College which has brought well-known authors, scholars, performers and intellectual provocateurs to the Hattiesburg campus.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We are deliberately diverse in our choice of Forum speakers, ensuring that we represent a wide range of topics and points of view,&rdquo; said Dr. Ellen Weinauer, dean of the Honors College at Southern Miss.</p>
<p>In the past year along, the Forum has featured a Libertarian presidential candidate; a nationally known progressive journalist; the director of the public health lab for the state of New York; and a scholar who is engaged in pioneering research on the cognitive roots of religious belief.</p>
<p><strong>Upcoming Forum lectures include the following:</strong></p>
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<li>March 3 &ndash; &ldquo;Endangered Equity Through Perceived Equality: Women&rsquo;s History and its Crucial Role in Contemporary Fights for Justice.&rdquo; Dr. Jennifer Stollman, academic director at the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, University of Mississippi. 6:30 p.m., Thad Cochran Center, Ballroom II.</li>
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<li>March 24 &ndash; &ldquo;If Only She Were a Man&hellip;&rdquo;: Women Composers from the 18<sup>th</sup> to the 21<sup>st</sup> Centuries. Ulrike Anton, flutist; Russell Ryan, pianist. 6:30 p.m., Bennett Auditorium.</li>
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<li>March 31 &ndash; &ldquo;Why Religion is Natural and Science is Not.&rdquo; Dr. Robert McCauley, Center for Mind, Brain and Culture, Emory University. 6:30 p.m., Bennett Auditorum.</li>
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<li>April 21 &ndash; Ben Burkett, Mississippi farmer and activist, James Beard Award winner, President of the National Family Farm Coalition, 6:30 p.m., Thad Cochran Center, Ballroom I.</li>
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<p>For more information about the University Forum Lecture Series, contact the Southern Miss Honors College at 601.266.4533 or visit: <a href="http://www.usm.edu/honors">www.usm.edu/honors</a></p>
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AcademicsLecturesHonorsCommunityEventsWed, 11 Feb 2015 15:40:26 +00007929 at http://www.usm.edu/news